Feifan. New electric vehicle brand of SAIC
Feifan, a new Chinese electric vehicle brand owned by SAIC, plans to produce mid-priced electric cars. The Feifan brand was established in the fall of 2021, so its history is still short, but complicated.
Origins
The biggest Chinese group SAIC has several sub-brands, one of which is called Roewe. In 2006, SAIC received permission from the Chinese government to produce cars under its own brand. The first SAIC models were based on the developments acquired from MG Rover Group. New cars began to be sold under the Roewe brand. Later, the brand had a separate R family, modified for electric vehicles.
All electric Roewe models received the letter R in the name, a unified design and a separate logo in the form of a stylized letter R. Petrol and hybrid cars retained the old ornate lion emblem, but it is now monochrome, with a black backing. The fairly well-known electric SUV, the Marvel R, was sold under the R brand. In the UK it is known as the MG Marvel R, but it is actually a rebranded version of the Chinese electric SUV from R Auto, released under the wing of Roewe. Additionally, the Roewe ER6 electric sedan was included in a separate R-family.
A new friend is better than the two old friends
Apparently either things weren’t going well for the R electric sub-brand, or SAIC decided to isolate and distance electric cars from parent brand Roewe as much as possible, or maybe the automaker wanted to give additional status to such an important and fashionable brand today. Anyway, the new company Feifan Automotive Technology Co, or simply Feifan, replaced the R Auto brand, which was not so successful. The division was created specifically for electric vehicles, although the emblem in the form of a stylized letter R was retained. The new brand is also known as Rising Auto.
The Feifan brand already controls two models of Roewe R, now called Feifan ER6 and Feifan Marvel R, and the new Feifan R7 coupe-like SUV, which plays the role of flagship, became the first independent model. Well, Feifan knows how to impress: the nearly 5-meter luxury electric SUV R7 has an autopilot and a replaceable battery.
Feifan R7
In the summer of 2022, SAIC presented the first model from the new Feifan brand. In terms of dimensions and form factor, the new coupe-like SUV resembles the Audi e-tron Sportback, which, by the way, is currently available in Israel. The body with retractable door handles is truly aerodynamic: an air drag coefficient reaches 0.238. The design with narrow bands of optical diodes is quite typical of the modern Chinese automotive industry. The interior architecture of the new Feifan R7 is reminiscent of the latest Mercedes-Benz electric models with their ‘glass’ Hyperscreen front panel. The Chinese version is called Trinity, and three screens are also installed under one glass.
It should be noted that the new Feifan R7 is equipped with lidar on the roof, powered by an Nvidia Orin smart driving chip. According to official information, the lidar is able to detect other vehicles at a distance of more than 500 meters. In addition, the car received a ‘smart cabin’, based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip. But the most interesting detail is the ability to quickly replace the battery. The new Rising Power technology allows you to change the battery in 2.5 minutes. In comparison, for NIO cars, this process takes about three minutes. However, no information is yet available on plans to install battery swap stations.
Summary
Automotive history knows many fairly successful examples when a new brand, created separately from the parent brand, not only conquers its audience and new markets, but even eclipses its ancestor. For example, Toyota and Lexus. Today, as the topic of electromobility becomes more and more popular, many major automotive companies create eco-friendly models or even new brands. For example, Geely with its Geometry. But the main thing, in our opinion, is not what you call yourself and how you position yourself, but what product you offer. Therefore, only time will tell what the new Chinese electric car brand Feifan will look like.
